Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Love never faileth.

~Corinthians 13:1-8

My last name means sparkling stone in a different language, so that is the name I used.

Okaaaay...

Things about me that no one needs to know but may want to anyway:

~I have been in an opera.

~I love the red skittles best, but prefer blue M&Ms. The M&M colors DO taste different, despite what people may say.

~I live in the US, but London has always been more of a home for me, since my family goes there on lengthy trips several times a year.

~I've wanted to dye my hair red since I was ten, but haven't dared in case I look ridiculous.

~I am most at home on the water (sailboats only! motorboats are evil!), and when I wasn't pretending that I could fly, I used to play a game with my best friend that we were mermaid princesses caught on land.That's rather embarrassing now.

~Music is my life. I'm mostly a singer, but I taught myself how to play the piano and guitar, and though I'm no expert at either, I adore them both and often sing along. I also took harp lessons from the age of 9 to 14, so I'm fairly competent in it and have a large one in my room. I don't often play it, but when I do, it comes back really quickly.

~My favorite candy flavors are sour apple and blue raspberry.

My Writing:

Most of the stuff that I have written was done in a time when I feel that I was a lot less mature than I am now. I was in high school, but now I'm a lit major in college, so you could say that I know more about writing and what makes a good story than I did then. So at the moment, I am writing, but not really publishing anything. I'm actually considering deleting my old stories and revamping them.

So at the moment, I am recovering from NaNoWriMo, which was extremely taxing but also very rewarding. I'm also currently beta-ing around six stories. It's not like I'm not busy!

Check out my tumblr: http: // wood-chips. tumblr. com / (remove the spaces). I'm fairly active in the Supernatural, Merlin, and Harry Potter fandoms there!

My fandoms: Supernatural, Merlin, Harry Potter, Sherlock, Doctor Who/Torchwood, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Star Trek (TOS and 2009), some Smallville, and Buffy/Angel.

My Ships : italics are my OTPs. I don't really know why I have to do this, but I guess it's necessary.

Supernatural: Dean/Castiel, Sam/Gabriel, Dean/Sam (normally I'm not an incest fan, but this pairing quickly grew on me), Sam/Lucifer, Castiel/Balthazar

Harry Potter: Draco/Harry, Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, Neville/Luna, Remus/Tonks, Ginny/Tom, Ginny/Draco, Draco/Hermione (sometimes), and of course James/Lily.

Merlin: Merlin/Arthur, Arthur/Gwen, I tolerate Merlin/Morgana, Merlin/Gwen sometimes, Merlin/Freya, Morgana/Gwen

Sherlock: Sherlock/John

Doctor Who/Torchwood: Jack/Ianto, Jack/Doctor, Doctor/Ianto, Doctor/Master, Jack/John, Doctor/Martha, Doctor(9/10/11)/Rose, Owen/Tosh, Jack/Rose (pre-Torchwood) Gwen/Rhys (NEVER Gwen/Jack!), Amy/Rory

Lord of the Rings: Legolas/Aragorn, Aragorn/Arwen, Faramir/Eowen, Faramir/Boromir, Sam/Rosie, Legolas/Eowen, Merry/Eowen, Frodo/OC, Merry/Pippin (okay), and Merry or Pippin/OC. This is one of the few places in the fanfic realm where I actually like OC romances, probably because there were so few female characters in the actual books and/or movies

Star Trek: Kirk/Spock (they are th'y'la, anyone who says otherwise is blind or in serious denial), Kirk/Bones, Bones/Uhura, Uhura/Scotty, Sulu/Chekov, Sarek/Amanda, George/Winona (the angsty sad fics from ST XI)

Buffy/Angel: Spuffy, Spangel

Chronicles of Narnia: Caspian/Lucy, Lucy/Tumnus, Peter/Caspian. But really, I've come to the conclustion that Narnia is best left outside the realms of romance. Plus, I'm sick to death of how much Suspian and "what would happen if some one else went with the Pevensies to Narnia?" stories there are. And the books are all about childhood innocence. How can you have that with a romantic pairing?

Well, those are the fandoms that I read mostly. I'm afraid that FanFiction has corrupted me, and I read actual books less and less. It's not my fault!! What happens is I'll think, "Oh, how I wish that this happened," or "I wonder what so and so was thinking at this point in time," and of course, that leads to searching for it on ff. The sad thing is, I usually find it.

Me Ranting About Random Stuff:

I understand Mary Sues, I really do. I've made them before. We all have, I'm sure. Sometimes, you just really want to make someone likable, and she just gets out of your control, and before you know it, she's a simpering, perfect little princess that can not only fight perfectly well, but everyone loves her and wants to be loved by her. She stands up for what she believes in and can do no wrong. And guess what? She also has a traumatic past that haunts her! But when you realize this, rather than correcting her, you make her even worse??? It is possible to have likable Mary Sues, I mean, look at Harry Potter, or at Aragorn. And yes, I am aware that they are Gary Stus, but whatever. I'm just saying, if you're going to have a Mary Sue, at least make her goddamn interesting and if you realize that she's getting too perfect, add a flaw that isn't "she's too stubborn" or "she will die to protect those she loves" because, I'm sorry, but those aren't flaws.

Which leads to Twilight. If that isn't the biggest bunch of Mary Sues I have ever seen I don't know what is. Bella is basically a big puppet that serves as a stand in so that teenage girls can fawn over the perfection of Edward through her eyes. I mean, really, what do we actually know about her personality? She's clumsy? And Edward is stupid as well. I can actually redeem the sparkly vampire bit, but the fact that he has no life apart from Bella isn't romantic, it's creepy. Girls, if a guy is watching you sleep from outside your window, don't talk about how wonderful and romantic that is, call the police. Right away. Maybe I realize that they are just a bunch of MSs and that is why I like to see some Twilight crossovers where they completly change all the characters' personalities. Because fanfiction writers can sometimes do the impossible: breathe some life into those cardboard cut-outs that people call characters. I have no respect for people who say that Twilight is the only book that they like, or the only thing that they find worth reading.

One of the things I hate most about people is when they say that they hate something, and upon being inquired why, they have no response because they haven't actually tried it. How do you know you don't like something unless you have tried it? I get that a lot with stuff such as literature or movies/TV. Let's take a conversation I had with someone about Harry Potter:
Me: So, have you seen the latest Harry Potter movie?
Person: No. I don't really like Harry Potter.
Me: Why not?
Person: I don't know. I just don't.
Me: Well, what specifically don't you like about it?
Person: I haven't actually read any of the books or seen the movies.
Me: Do you just not like fantasy then?
Person: No, I do. I love fantasy. It's my favorite genre.
Me: ... then what's wrong with Harry Potter?
I mean it's one thing if you read even just half of the first book and didn't like it, but it's another thing to just flat out refuse to try it and are very vocal about their refusal to like it!

Another thing that really irritates me is when people, particularly in the Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, or (more rarely) Harry Potter fandoms, write a story while openly admitting that they haven't actually read the books and don't plan to, and are only following the plot of the movies. You would think that as soon as you saw a really good movie you would feel inspired to read more about that wonderful world and go read the books at once, but no! Why not plunge straight ahead, knowing next to nothing about the fandom you are writing for, completely ignorant of all of the information you are missing. Again, it's different if you have done both and choose to follow the movie plot but really! Just ignoring that these masterpieces exist? It just really gets on my nerves how people refuse to read things!

Favorite quotes:

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live'" Albus Dumbledore (HP and the Sorcerer's Stone)

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the judgment that something else is more important than fear." The Princess Diaries movies

"In a world of mirth and magic, you lose time in yourself" Frodo Baggins (Lord of the Rings)

"Do not scorn the pity that is the gift of a gentle heart" - Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Faramir)

"But do you want to beeee one?" Me and my friend (When someone says that they like something)

"There is an art to crossing the street. One must step slightly out onto the crosswalk, and show clearly with your posture and confident demeanor your intent to cross. If your will is strong, the cars will yield to you, and you may pass. If you don't, you get squashed." Me

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by frost." Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say." Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

You think that killing people will make them like you but it doesn't. It just makes them dead." Voldemort, A Very Potter Musical

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” Oscar Wilde

"A hero cannot be a hero unless in a heroic world." Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Easy reading is damn hard writing." Nathaniel Hawthorne

And if anyone is still reading this, I applaud you and send you virtual chocolate chip cookies!